Flames of the Soul
by DarkAngel2210
Summary: Kyprioth, trickster god of the copper isles, was involved somehow in George's life. This story explains what happened. Goerge is dragged, by kyprioth, into Reinnan's adventure, another one of kyprioth's plots.
1. Introduction: At the Dancing Dove

Disclaimer: All of the things that came from Tamora Pierce's books belong to her not me.

Character List

Reinnan Trebelle

Age: 19

Merchant Father, from Corus and Port Royal

Description: Long wavy dark brown and auburn colored hair. Gold colored eyes. Tall

Skills: Knife Fighter, Archer, among other things

Rusell

Age: 20

From the country of Racantka (south east of Tortall)

Description: Straight dark blonde hair with red and black streaks. Dark brown eyes. Pierced earlobes, and one cartilage piercing on her upper right ear.

She was involved in the Recantka rebellion, and is a ringleader of the Senallii Rebel group, and was forced to flee Racantka after the failure of their rebellion

Skills/ Abilities: Illusionist has the magical power to create illusions. Raal fighter, a Raal is a long, thin, flexible, blade made of liquid silver, and only the Royal Recantka Armourers know how to make the liquid silver.

Saamentha of Julna

Known as **Sammy**

Age: 16.5

From very northern Tortall/ Noble

Description: Blonde, strait hair, separated into two bunches, and aqua colored eyes.

She ran away from her family, after they tried to force her to go to Court, declared that her family was too boring, and then ran away.

Skills: Horseback Riding

Leeh Naigh

Age: 18

Copper Islander- Half Lurain, Half Raka Lurain are the people, originally from Tortall, who settled on the Copper Isles, and the Raka are the natives

Not much is known about her background, since she moved to Tortall as a child with her God Mother.

Mage

Description: Curly black hair that reaches her shoulders, Hazel eyes and light skin

Lana of Rihenonn

Age:22

Eastern Tortall/ Noble/ Healer

Description: Reddish blond hair that reached a little longer than shoulder length, a mixture of straight and wavy hair.

Author's note: Okay, during the story, I've changed the timing.. But basically George in 19 years old and Alanna is off somewhere else, and is not in the story... Ever, but Daine and Numair are.

Introduction: At the Dancing Dove

A tall dark haired girl, wearing dark denim pants, and a red tunic under a black velvet cloak, walked silently into the Dancing Dove Inn, and was unnoticed, except for a brief glance from a young stranger sitting off in a corner. Once inside, Reinnan, the daughter of the much renounced merchant Mikael Trebelle, began looking for her friend, whom she had not seen in several years. Meanwhile, Rusell sat solemnly at a small square table in the Dove's bar staring intently at her glass of ale, thinking to herself, and muttering slightly aloud.

"I wonder... If I glare at it long enough, can I make it freeze? NOO better yet, will it explode? Yes explode! Bloody! Doesn't anything work, first the rebellion and now the stupid ale won't explode…"

Rusell was dressed entirely in black except for the peacock embroidered on the left side of her cloak; the peacock was the secret symbol of the Senallii. Suddenly, Rusell felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and prepared to throw whoever had touched her across the room. But, as Rusell reached out to grab her victim, Reinnan stepped smoothly to the side, under a light where her face was suddenly illuminated.

"Rus, you've never been able to throw me, it would be so much easier if you would stop trying to." Reinnan remarked. Smiling, she wondered if Rusell, her childhood friend would remember her from when she and her father had traveled to Recantka and spent two years there.

"But you'll have to remember, Reinnan, that was back when I was still in training, things could be different now!" Rusell, smiled slowly as she recognized her friend, and wondered how on earth Reinnan had found her. Rusell had been under the impression that no one knew she was in Tortall. But then again, Reinnan had always known everything. The two friends hugged, and Reinnan sat down in the chair opposite Rusell.

"How the hell'd you find me?" Exclaimed Rusell, while she mentally retraced her journey to Tortall, and tried to remember if she had done anything to reveal her identity. Then, as if she could read Rusell's mind, Reinnan responded, grinning wickedly,

"No, you didn't do anything wrong…I just have my sources. And anyways, I need your help with something"

A few tables over, a man sat in the corner observing the crowd, undisturbed except for an occasional word spoken to him by the bartender. George Cooper was the nineteen year old King of the Rogue, the king of thieves, the ruler of an underground society, and was calmly observing two young women, who looked around his age, both were wearing black cloaks, he was paying specific attention to the taller one, her name apparently was Reinnan. Something had drawn her to his attention, but he couldn't tell what. George had the sight, a magical ability that enabled him to see physical things in great detail, as well as see lies and simple illusions. When he looked at Reinnan, something was blocking his sight, protecting her, but it wasn't the gift, or the sight, it was something else that had almost a flame-like quality. What ever it was, both of them, Reinnan, and her friend were fascinating. Earlier that evening, the friend, whose name was something along the lines of Russell, had been muttering to her ale about an exploding ale rebellion. As it grew later, the Dancing Dove grew steadily more crowded, and George, deciding he needed some air, walked out the back door, into the square next to the Dove's stables. As he was walking, he thought out loud,

"Those girls were intriguing, strange, very strange, well at least the Rus one was, but interesting all the same." Because he was walking with his head down, and was so immersed in thought, George almost walked into a very tall man, with salt and pepper hair, wearing a sarong.

"I'm glad you think so." pronounced the man in the sarong

George began to mutter something along the lines of who are you, and what are you talking about, but the other man cut him off,

"I see you don't know who I am, I am Kyprioth, the Trickster god of the Copper Isles. Those two girls you were talking to yourself about," Kyprioth looked around to confirm that George had indeed been talking to himself,

"Well, their names are Reinnan and Rusell. Rusell is under my protection, and Reinnan, well Reinnan is a special circumstance, and has extreme value to my well being, so seeing as you yourself are a fellow trickster, the King of Thieves, a position that I helped you reach by the way, I concluded yesterday that you from now on are under my mark, and my protection. I have a something for you to accomplish." Kyprioth obviously had more to say, but it was George's turn to cut him off,

"Wait, so I'm guessing I have no say in this, seeing as you are a … "god"… Let me get this straight, you just Decided to come along and make me your servant, and now I had to do this "task" you have for me…great…" George stopped talking, realizing if he got Kyprioth mad, he might turn him into a cabbage or something.

"Exactly, now here's what I need you to do. Help Reinnan to accomplish her task, which I unfortunately had to give to her indirectly, being as her mother would kill me if she found out I was talking to her daughter. That's an entirely different story however. But to make a long story short, if Reinnan doesn't finish her task, I'm dead, and I loose would loose a bet, something I never do. Oh and also, I wouldn't think about telling anyone of this conversation, unless I'm present, and they can see me, because most likely everyone will think you are insane, or that you have the brains of a cabbage." With that as his last word, Kyprioth vanished leaving George alone and speechless.

George wasn't speechless because he had just talked to a god and is now going to have to complete this "task", but because Kyprioth had been able to sense George's fear that Kyprioth might turn him into a cabbage, George had never liked cabbage. After standing in the same position for several minutes, he heard someone walking out of the Inn's back door and into the square. Ducking behind a bush, he recognized the two black cloaks, one was velvet, and decided that if he was going to have to help these two, he might as well introduce himself.

A/N: that was Really short, I know, but I just wanted to get something uploaded… I'm working on writing the story..


	2. Chapter Two: The First Meeting

Chapter Two

The night air was crisp and cool as Rusell and Reinnan walked down the narrow cobble stoned street in Corus. Both sides of the street were lined with apple trees, and as the Dancing Dove shrank into the background, the two women walked down the center of the street; black cloaks silhouetted against the moon lit sky.

"So, what have you been up to all these years?" questioned Reinnan, as she looked at Rusell with a solid stare that told her not to dare lie about what she had been doing.

"You seriously need me to tell you, I expected higher, I had assumed you already knew." Rus and Reinnan both laughed and Rusell continued, "Well mostly the rebellion, other than that nothing really, I put my life into the Senallii and believe me everything would have worked out perfectly if it hadn't been for Julian, that…."

While Rusell had been talking, Reinnan noticed a reflection in the glass of a street lamp, and thought she saw a man following them for one brief moment. Then, she pulled a small extremely reflective dagger, she had polished it meticulously the night before, out of her sleeve; and while palming it carefully in her hand, so as not to cut herself, she checked behind them and around all of the corners. Noticing their follower, Reinnan slipped in one fluid motion around a corner. Rusell, oblivious to all that was happening because she was transfixed by the brilliant colored lights flashing in the sky, suddenly found herself alone. Immediately, Rus cast an illusionment over herself so that she was invisible to everyone, including those that have the sight, and threw her voice up into the air so that it would be impossible to pinpoint her location from the sound of her voice.

"You know I hate it when you do things like this, some of us just aren't as fast as you. I'll bet someone was following us, either that or you playing one of your jokes on me, like that time you ditched me by a trash can back in Recantka," called Rusell.

Meanwhile, George Cooper was crouching behind a rather prickly bush waiting for an opportunity to reveal himself. However, when he noticed that one of them was gone (the taller one who he had assumed was "Reinnan") he began to worry that he had been spotted.

"No, I can't have been spotted", George thought to himself. He, the king of thieves, was never ever noticed while tailing someone, that is until now. Then, suddenly, the other one (Rusell) had disappeared into thin air, causing George to conclude that she must have the Gift. George began to creep around the bush to take a better look at things, and he heard someone clear their throat, in a fake and almost mocking way, behind him. He spun around with one of his many carefully concealed knives in his hand, ready to attack if necessary, only to end up face to face with Reinnan's dagger.

"Damn, she's good, I didn't even notice her, hey, where's the other one, aye, she's probably on the other side of me by now," thought George, to himself again.

"How nice of you to introduce yourself," expressed Reinnan with a half smile and a cold stare.

"I was just about to, if you'd give me the courtesy of lowering your knife," returned George while slowly bowing, "if you please, I'd prefer to not have to worry about my nose being sliced off," he delivered with a light, almost mocking tone and a calculating look.

Reinnan began to smile slowly and wondered, "I like him, although I still would like to know who he is, and why he was following us."

Now, Rusell had indeed moved to a position behind George, she had not removed her invisibility illusion yet; however, because Reinnan had locked eyes with her earlier, signifying that she knew she was there.

"I would like to know why you have been following us, I repeat FOLLOWING US, all the way from the Dove...Your highness…" Exclaimed Rusell, while becoming visible; she had already figured out who this man was. Rusell did not like being followed; she really didn't like being followed.

Reinnan, guessing what might happen, lowered her weapon and crossed her arms over her chest and gave them both a skeptical look that seemed to say, " I'm not getting involved in this."

"Well, my dear lady Russell, I've been following you for two reasons: first, because I felt that it would be beneficial to us all if we became aquainted; and second, to figure out why you couldn't get your ale to explode… I don't think you were focusing hard enough." A wicked grin spread across George's face; his eyes remaining slightly cold because he still didn't know if they planned to harm him, that dagger looked really sharp. He knew that Rusell wasn't expecting him to have overheard he conversation with herself.

"I'm the King of the Rogue; I hear everything in the Dove," he said while shrugging his shoulders in fake innocence. Noticing the ripe red apples growing on the trees, George reached up and grabbed one, offered it to the infuriated Rusell, and when she didn't take it, shrugged again and took a large bite.

Meanwhile, Reinnan had concluded that this King of the Rogue, was nothing that she had expected from the King of thieves. She had always expected The Rogue to have been a lot older and much more vicious and abrupt; he was kind of quiet and a little devious. His intentions seemed well enough, although she didn't trust him, but he had said the part about feeling it was beneficial for them to meet with all sincerity. Unexpectedly, Rusell kicked George in the shin, and as he was jumping out of the way and getting ready to counter her blow, she threw a blast of pure illusion at him, which caused him to pass out.

"Really Rusell, couldn't you have contained yourself, why'd you have to hurt him, I found him rather entertaining actually," drawled Reinnan.

"Its not like I intended for him to be hurt, it was self defense," replied Rusell, "Hey, and anyways, you never got around to telling me what you needed my help for."

"That can wait, I think we should get him to a healer, you could have injured him."

"Right, now, how are we supposed to get him anywhere?" Rusell questioned sarcastically.

"As it turns out, I know a healer that lives just around that corner. Wait here, I'll go get her."

"Hurry, I don't want to be by myself with him when he wakes up."

A/N: okay, sorry it took me so long to update, I've just been extremely busy, and yes I know, the writing's kind of choppy, and the grammar/punctuation is a little weird, Its ten o'clock at night...What can I say...it makes sense though.

Read & Review please!


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